Method and system for managing battery power

ABSTRACT

An exchanger switch for use with a plurality of batteries that extends the useful, life of the batteries. In a generator, a first battery can provide power to an external load while also providing power to recharge a second battery. When the first battery is depleted to a certain voltage level, the exchanger switch is activated and the second battery can begin providing power to the external load. The exchanger switch also directs a portion of the power from the second battery to recharging the first battery. The exchanger switch allows the generator to continue providing power to the external load without interruption. Using the batteries as alternating power sources allows the exchanger switch to increase the useful life of the batteries.

RELATED PATENT APPLICATION

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationSer. No. 60/509,681, entitled “Reciprocal Electrical Regenerator,” filedOct. 8, 2003, and identifying Daniel J. Killian as the inventor. Thesubject matter of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No.60/509,681 is hereby incorporated by reference in this application.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of electricity generation,and more particularly to the efficient use of electric power provided bybatteries.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The need to extend the life of batteries and to use the power theyprovide more efficiently is a significant problem in a variety ofcontexts today. Some of the applications where this need is apparentinclude battery powered vehicles and battery powered electronic devices.Another application for battery power is stand-alone or self-containedelectric generators. While generators can operate on a variety of powersources, including batteries and combustible fuels, batteries are oftenpreferred for reasons discussed further herein. Efficient use of batterypower is particularly important for electric generators because they areuseful sources of auxiliary power for remote locations where access tothe electric power grid is inconvenient or unavailable. Generators canalso serve as a back up power source when the electric power grid fails.

One common use for stand-alone generators is in the trucking industry.Truckers often consume significant amounts of diesel fuel while idlingin order to provide power to the truck cab. Running the truck's engineto provide power to the cab is wasteful, expensive, and harmful to theenvironment. In view of these negative factors, recent federal and statelaws limit the number of hours per day that truckers may leave theirengines idling. As a result, truckers must look to auxiliary powersources, such as stand-alone generators, to provide power to the truck'scab. A generator that uses battery power efficiently to maximize thelife of the batteries is particularly useful to the trucking industry.

Other applications for stand-alone generators include use on boats,recreational vehicles, as auxiliary power sources when primary powersources fail, and as power sources in remote locations. In many of theseapplications, battery. powered generators are preferable to those thatoperate on combustible fuel because the batteries are quieter and do notproduce harmful emissions. However, one of the drawbacks with batterypowered generators is the limited life of the batteries. Various effortshave been made to extend the useful life of batteries. For example,longer lasting batteries have been constructed with advanced batterychemistries, such as those using lithium. Another solution implementedin some applications is to simply use arrays of multiple batteries.Different power generation applications arrange the batteries in eitherseries or parallel arrays to meet the needs of the load and to extendthe life of the batteries to a limited extent.

For example, one solution is described in an article entitled“Comparison of a Synergetic Battery, Pack Drive System to a Pulse WidthModulated AC Induction Motor Drive for an Electric Vehicle,” publishedin IEEE Transactions on Energy Conservation, vol. 14, no. 2, June 1999.The article describes a battery pack system designed to monitor andaccess individual sections of the battery pack to control the dischargeof the battery cells. This battery pack system is designed to avoidlimiting the performance of the battery pack to the weakest cell. Thebattery pack system relies on battery reconfiguration techniques toimprove overall performance of the battery pack. However, the batterypack system relies on external sources to recharge the batteries.

Other examples in the prior art involve systems for rechargingbatteries, particularly in vehicles that use electric power. However,many of these prior art solutions rely on external sources of power torecharge the batteries. These solutions do not provide a means to extendthe life of batteries in a stand-alone system such as a battery poweredgenerator.

The prior art solutions are limited in their ability to efficientlymanage the power capacity of multiple batteries. Accordingly, there is aneed in the art for the ability to increase the useful life ofcombinations of batteries used to provide power. Specifically, there isa need in the art for a system and method to more efficiently use thepower provided by batteries, such as those used in generators, so thatthe useful life of the batteries is extended. A switching method anddevice is needed that allows a primary battery to provide power to anexternal load while also recharging a secondary battery. The neededswitching method and device should allow the primary battery and thesecondary battery to alternate roles so that after a designated time,the secondary battery can provide power to the external load while alsorecharging the primary battery. There is a further need for a switchingmethod and device that can support the power supply and chargingfunctions for more than two batteries.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention solves the problems identified above by providinga system and method for managing the use of battery power. A switchingsystem and method supports using a plurality of batteries to providepower. The switching system and method allows a first battery to providepower to an external load while also providing power for recharging asecond battery. At a designated time, the switching system and methodallow the first battery and the second battery to alternate roles. Inother words, at the designated time the second battery can beginproviding power to an external load while also providing power torecharge the first battery. The switching system and method allows thefirst battery and the second battery to alternate roles withoutinterrupting the delivery of power to the external load. The switchingsystem and method also support switching among more than two batteries.

In one aspect, the invention comprises a system for managing the use ofbattery power in a generator. An inverter receives a direct current froma first battery and converts the direct current to an alternatingcurrent for supplying to an external load. A portion of the alternatingcurrent is directed to a transformer for increasing the voltage and arectifier for converting the portion of the alternating current back toa direct current. The direct current from the rectifier is supplied toan exchanger switch that feeds the direct current to a second batteryfor charging.

In another aspect, the invention comprises a system for managing the useof power from a first battery. An exchanger switch supplies directcurrent from the first battery to an inverter for converting the directcurrent to an alternating current. A switch directs a portion of thealternating current to a rectifier for conversion back to a directcurrent for charging. The exchanger switch supplies the charging directcurrent from the rectifier to a second battery.

In a further aspect, the invention comprises a method for switchingpower and recharging functions from a first battery to a second battery.A first battery provides power to an external load while also supplyingpower to recharge a second battery. When the first battery is depletedto a designated voltage level, the switching device is activated and thesecond battery begins providing power to the external load while alsosupplying power to recharge the first battery.

In yet another aspect, the invention comprises a method for managing theuse of a first battery and a second battery. An exchanger switchreceives a direct current from the first battery which is converted toan alternating current with an inverter. A portion of the alternatingcurrent can be converted back to a charging direct current with arectifier. The exchanger switch supplies the charging direct current toa second battery in need of recharging. The exchanger switch can alsosupport receiving direct current and supplying charging direct currentto additional batteries.

The discussion of the invention and its operation presented in thissummary is for illustrative purposes only. Various aspects of thepresent invention may be more clearly understood and appreciated from areview of the following detailed description of the disclosedembodiments and by reference to the drawings and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a generator with two batteries and anexchanger switch in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the drawing in FIG. 1 illustrating agenerator with two batteries and an exchanger switch in accordance withan exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating an electronic exchangerswitch in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a generator with threebatteries and an exchanger switch in accordance with an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a logic flow diagram illustrating a method for operating theexchanger switch in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

The present invention is directed to a system and method for efficientlymanaging the use of power supplied by a plurality of batteries. A firstbattery provides a direct current to an exchanger switch that suppliesan inverter. The inverter can convert the direct current to analternating current which can be used to power an external load. Aportion of the alternating current can also be redirected to charge asecond battery. Specifically, the redirected current can pass through atransformer and then be converted to a direct current with a rectifier.The rectified direct current passes through the exchanger switch forrecharging a second battery. At a designated time or voltage level, theexchanger switch changes the direction of the current flows.Specifically, the exchanger switch draws the primary power from thesecond battery and provides recharging power to the first battery.

The present invention can be implemented in a variety of differentembodiments. The first exemplary embodiment described herein uses twobatteries coupled to a mechanical exchanger switch that slides laterallyfrom one set of electrical contacts to another. Another exemplaryembodiment of the invention uses an electronic switch to control thesource of the direct current and the battery to which the rechargingpower is supplied. While these and other exemplary embodiments arereferenced in the following descriptions, those skilled in the art willrecognize the invention is not limited to these examples.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention is illustrated. Specifically, FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate use ofa mechanical exchanger switch 65 in a generator 100 comprising twobatteries 1 and 2. FIG. 1 is an isometric view of the components of thegenerator 100. FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the components of generator100 to facilitate viewing how the components are connected. Theexemplary embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 is an electricalgenerator 100 capable of providing a typical household or other discreetenvironment with 2000 to 6000 watts of power for an extended period oftime. The operating principles illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 can bemodified to suit other applications.

Battery 1 is coupled to the exchanger switch 65 and provides a directcurrent for use as a power source. The terminals of battery 1 arecoupled to plates 46 and 49 on lower exchanger plate 34. When upperexchanger plate 26 is in contact with lower exchanger plate 34, thedirect current is supplied to plates 27 and 28 and supplied to inverter45. Inverter 45 converts the direct current from battery 1 to analternating current which is passed through breaker 37 and supplied topower external loads (not shown). In the exemplary embodimentillustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the alternating current from inverter 45is supplied to converter box 36 and used to operate gear motor 35. Gearmotor 35 drives the movement of the upper exchanger plates 25 and 26.The gear motor 35 is coupled to two solenoids 53 and 54 responsible formoving the plates in each direction. The two solenoids 53 and 54 arecoupled to two mechanical switches 51 and 52 that alternate thedirection of movement of the upper exchanger plates 25 and 26.

In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the mechanicalexchanger switch 65 operates on a timing sequence. In other words, whenupper exchanger plates 25 and 26 are moved to the right by the gearmotor 35, they will eventually actuate switch 51 causing the upperexchanger plates 25 and 26 to. start moving in the opposite direction(to the left in FIGS. 1 and 2). Upper exchanger plates 25 and 26 willcontinue moving to the left until they actuate switch 52 and then willagain start moving toward the right. The speed with which the upperexchanger plates 25 and 26 slide from side to side controls thefrequency with which battery 1 switches from a power supply mode to arecharging mode. When the upper exchanger plate 26 moves to the left inFIGS. 1 and 2, direct current is supplied to plates 27 and 28 frombattery 2 via plates 47 and 48 on lower exchanger plate 34. When upperexchanger plate 26 is in the left position, battery 2 is providing powerand battery 1 is in recharging mode.

In other embodiments of the present invention different types ofexchanger switches can be implemented. For example, mechanical exchangerswitches can be implemented as cylinders that slide or rotate to theappropriate contact points. In yet other embodiments of the invention anelectrical exchanger switch can be implemented with electroniccomponents. Furthermore, while the mechanical exchanger switchillustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 operates on a timing sequence, otherexchanger switches can operate on different principles. For example, inan embodiment implementing an electrical exchanger switch the switch canbe activated by a designated voltage level. In such an embodiment, abattery can be switched from a power supply mode to a recharging modewhen its voltage drops to a designated level.

Referring again to the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, while aportion of the alternating current from the inverter 45 is used to poweran external load, another portion of the alternating current is suppliedto transformers 17 and 18. Transformers 17 and 18 are controlled bycontrol switch 24. Transformers 17 and 18 increase the voltage of thealternating current before it passes to diodes 21 and 22 located onvoltage plate 20. Direct current passes from connector 23 to plate 44via connector 29 on upper exchanger plate 25. Similarly, negative chargepasses from plate 19 to plate 43 via connector 30 on upper exchangerplate 25. The upper exchanger plate 25 slides laterally over lowerexchanger plate 33. Direct current can pass from plates 43 and 44 on theupper exchanger plate 25 to the sets of plates on the lower exchangerplate 33. For example, at one end of the lateral motion, plates 43 and44 conduct direct current to plates 40 and 41. At the other end of thelateral motion, plates 43 and 44 conduct direct current to plates 39 and42. Batteries 1 and 2 can alternately receive direct current forrecharging depending on the position of upper exchanger plate 25.Neutral plates 50 and 38 act as a breaker to prevent one of thebatteries from depleting the other battery as upper exchanger plate 25slides laterally.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 another portion of thealternating current from inverter 45 is supplied to transformers 3 and4. Control switches 11 and 12 control transformers 4 and 3,respectively. Transformers 3 and 4 increase the voltage of thealternating current before it is converted to a direct current by diodes5, 6, 14, and 15. Negatively charged plates 9 and 10 conduct charge toconnectors 13 and 16, respectively. Direct current is fed from plates 7and 8 and connectors 13 and 16 to the plates located on lower exchangerplate 33. The direct current is then fed from lower exchanger plate 33to batteries 1 and 2 via connectors 31 and 32 for recharging. Theembodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 includes two sources ofrecharging direct current. Direct current is supplied to lower exchangerplate 33 from the sliding upper exchanger plate 25 and from diodes 5, 6,14, and 15 that are coupled to the lower exchanger plate 33. Alternativeembodiments of the present invention can only include a single source ofrecharging direct current so that one battery is recharging whileanother battery is supplying power.

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary electronic exchanger switch 300 inaccordance with another embodiment of the present invention. Theelectronic exchanger switch 300 can be used in place of the mechanicalexchanger switch 65 illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. Essentially, theelectronic components in switch 300 replace the sliding plates of themechanical exchanger switch 65. In contrast to the mechanical exchangerswitch 65 which is based on a timing mechanism, the electronic exchangerswitch 300 makes switching decisions based on voltage readings from thebatteries. In alternate embodiments of the invention, the electronicswitch 300 can also operate on a timing principle. The electronicexchanger switch 300 illustrated in FIG. 3 is equipped to supportswitching for two batteries. In other embodiments of invention, morecomplex electronic exchanger. switches can be employed for switchingamong more than two batteries.

Electronic exchanger switch 300 comprises a voltage monitoring circuit305 coupled to two batteries B1 and B2 (not shown) through leads 308,310, 312, and 315. The voltage monitoring circuit 305 is coupled tocontroller 330 through leads W 317, X 320, Y 322, and Z 325. Thecontroller 330 is also coupled to batteries B1 and B2 and controls theflow of current from the batteries to the external load using switches332, 333, 334, and 335. While switches 332, 333, 334, and 335 cancomprise a variety of conventional electrical components, one commonexample is a thyristor. The switches 332, 333, 334, and 335 are coupledto the batteries B1 and B2 through leads 337, 338, 339, and 340.

When the voltage monitoring circuit 305 detects a drop in voltage inbattery B1, for example, the voltage drop is communicated to switches332 and 335 via connections W 317 and Y 322. Switches 332 and 335 switchoff and prevent battery B1 from providing additional power to theexternal load. Before switches 332 and 335 switch off, connections X 320and Z 325 communicate with switches 33 and 334 so that they are turnedon to allow battery B2 to provide power to the external load. Althoughnot illustrated in FIG. 3, additional switching components can be addedto direct a portion of current from the battery providing power to thebattery requiring recharging. The electronic exchanger switch 300 allowsbatteries B1 and B2 to alternate between power source mode andrecharging mode so as to prolong the life of both of the batteries.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating the relationships between theprimary components of a generator implementing an exchanger switch. FIG.4 shows a generalized generator 400 in accordance with an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention. Generator 400 uses three batteries405, 410, and 415, however, three is not a required number and otherembodiments can employ other combinations of multiple batteries. Thethree batteries 405, 410, and 415 are coupled to an exchanger switch420. The exchanger switch 420 controls the flow of current to and fromeach of the batteries depending on whether a battery is providing power,receiving recharging, or is static.

The exchanger switch 420 supplies direct current from one of thebatteries to inverter 425 for converting to an alternating current.Switch 430 receives the alternating current from the inverter 425 anddivides the alternating current between the external load 435 and returncurrent for recharging one of the batteries. The voltage of the returnalternating current is increased with transformer 440 and converted to adirect current with rectifier 445. Finally, the exchanger switch 420receives the direct current from the rectifier 445 and uses it torecharge one of the batteries. Those skilled in the art will recognizethat generator 400 is merely an exemplary embodiment of the inventionand other embodiments can comprise additional components or maysubstitute certain components illustrated in FIG. 4 with otherconventional electronic components.

FIG. 5 illustrates process 500 for implementing an exchanger switch in agenerator in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention. Process 500 begins with a battery 405 that provides directcurrent to the exchanger switch 420 in step 505. The exchanger switch420 receives direct current from the battery 405 while the otherbatteries 410 and 415 are either recharging or are in static mode. Inalternative embodiments of the present invention the exchanger switchcan receive direct current from more than one battery and can supplyrecharging current to more than one battery. The exchanger switch 420provides direct current to the inverter 425 in step 510. In step 515 theinverter 425 converts the direct current to alternating current andsupplies the alternating current to an external load 435. In a typicalembodiment of the present invention the inverter supplies approximately70% of the alternating current to the external load 435 while 30% isused for recharging purposes. The inverter can use a switch 420 toaccomplish dividing the alternating current between the external load435 and the recharging portion.

In step 520 a transformer 440 receives the portion of the alternatingcurrent for recharging. The transformer 440 increases the voltage inorder to increase the recharging current and supplies the alternatingcurrent to the rectifier 445 in step 525. In step 530 the rectifierconverts the alternating current to direct current and supplies thedirect current to the exchanger switch 420. As illustrated in FIGS. 1and 2, direct current can also be applied directly to a rechargingbattery without the exchanger switch. In step 535 the exchanger switch420 supplies direct current to battery 2 410 for recharging. Whilebattery 2 410 is recharging, the exchanger switch 420 may detect thatbattery 1 requires recharging based on a drop in voltage in step 540. Ifthe exchanger switch 420 detects a drop in voltage in the batteryproviding power, the exchanger switch 420 can switch to battery 3 415 asthe power source and begin providing direct current to battery 1 405 forrecharging in step 545. If no drop in voltage is detected in step 540,exemplary process 500 can return to step 510 and continue to iterateuntil another battery needs charging. When another battery needscharging, the exchanger switch 420 can make the appropriate adjustmentand the recharged batteries can continue to provide power to theexternal load 435 while simultaneously providing recharging power foranother battery. Exemplary process 500 can substantially increase thetotal life of the batteries by efficiently managing the power eachbattery provides.

In conclusion, the present invention, as represented in the foregoingexemplary embodiments, provides a system and method for efficientlyusing and managing the power provided by multiple batteries. Theexchanger switch can be set to alternate between two or more batteriesso that no single battery is depleted quickly. When one battery beginsto lose power, the exchanger switch can begin drawing power from anotherbattery. The other battery can also provide recharging current to thefirst weakened battery. The exchanger switch can also support switchingamong more than two batteries. Implementing the exchanger switch in apower supply system increases the useful life of the batteries by usingthe battery power more efficiently.

It will be appreciated that the present invention fulfills the needs ofthe prior art described herein and meets the above-stated objects. Whilethe preferred embodiments of the invention have been shown anddescribed, it will be evident to those skilled in the art that variousmodifications and changes may be made thereto without departing from thespirit and the scope of the invention as set forth in the appendedclaims and equivalents thereof. For instance, in addition to electricalgenerators, the present invention can be implemented in other types ofelectrical systems that rely on battery power. The invention can also beadapted to use a variety of different types of mechanical and electricalexchanger switches to manage the efficient use of power from thebatteries.

1-27. (canceled)
 28. A method for managing the use of a batterycomprising the steps of: receiving a first direct current from thebattery; converting the first direct current to an alternating current;converting a portion of the alternating current to a second directcurrent; and supplying the second direct current to the battery.
 29. Themethod of claim 28, further comprising the steps of supplying the seconddirect current to an exchanger switch for delivering the second directcurrent to a second battery.
 30. The method of claim 28, furthercomprising the step of supplying a second portion of the alternatingcurrent to an external load.
 31. The method of claim 28, furthercomprising the step of supplying the portion of the alternating currentto a transformer before converting the portion of the alternatingcurrent to a second direct current.
 32. A system for managing the use ofa first battery and a second battery comprising: an inverter operablefor receiving a first direct current from the first battery andproviding an alternating current to a switch, the switch operable fordirecting a first portion of the alternating current to an external loadand directing a second portion of the alternating current to atransformer; a rectifier operable for converting the second portion ofthe alternating current received from the transformer to a second directcurrent; and an exchanger switch operable for directing the seconddirect current to the second battery.
 33. The system of claim 32,wherein the exchanger switch is further operable for altering thedirection of the second direct current to the first battery.
 34. Thesystem of claim 32, wherein the exchanger switch is further operable foraltering the direction of the second direct current to the first batteryupon the voltage of the first battery reaching a certain level.
 35. Thesystem of claim 32, wherein the exchanger switch is further operable forreceiving the first direct current from the second battery and supplyingthe first direct current to the inverter.
 36. A system for managing theuse of a first battery and a second battery comprising: an inverteroperable for receiving a first direct current from the first battery andproviding an alternating current to a switch, the switch operable fordirecting a portion of the alternating current to a transformer; arectifier operable for converting the portion of the alternating currentreceived from the transformer to a second direct current; and anexchanger switch operable for directing the second direct current to thesecond battery.
 37. The system of claim 36, wherein the exchanger switchis further operable for altering the direction of the second directcurrent to the first battery.
 38. The system of claim 36, wherein theexchanger switch is further operable for altering the direction of thesecond direct current to the first battery upon the voltage of the firstbattery reaching a certain level.
 39. The system of claim 36, whereinthe inverter is operable for receiving the fist direct current from thefirst battery for a period of time and upon completion of the period oftime receiving the first direct current from the second battery.